Lathe



II. F. FBEIIEII.

LATHE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 5, 19H..

' N. F." FHETTEH.

LATHE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 5, 19u..

Patented Nova 29, w21, s SHEETS-SHEET 2.

www

N. F. FRETE R.

LATHE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 5. 1911.

Pmanted Novo 29, IIQZL UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NATHAN F. FRETTER, F CLEVELAND, OHIO.

Specification of 'Letters Patent.

Application filed December 1917. Serial No. 205,485.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it ,known that I, NATHAN F. FRETTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Qhio, `have invented a certain new4 and useful Improvement in Lathes, of whichin the present instance, built in the vform of turret lathes, and wherein the work is carhereto.

ried past a series of stations and temporarily stopped at each for the purpose of subjecting it to the operation Iof one or a set of tools that contributes to the .completion of the work.

The invention has for its objects the production of a machine of this character that is comparatively simple of construction; 1s compact, and therefore occupies only a l1m1t ed amount of floor space; that requires .but little attention; that is highly productive; that is durable and substantial; and whereln all parts are easily accessible for purposes of inspection, replacement, or repair.

Other and more specific objects w1ll become apparent as this description proceeds,

and the several objects are realized in the exempliication of my invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the present embodiment being designed to finish turnbuckles; and while I shall proceed to speellically describe this embodiment, it will be understood that I 'do not limit myself to the structural details thereof further than is required by the terms of the claims annexed In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the machine with parts broken away to better disclose certain structural details; Fig. 2 is a transverse section through the machine substantially on the line 2-2-of Fig.. 1; Fig. 3 is a 'section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a sectional detail on line 4 4 of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 (Sheet 1) is a sec- (Sheet 2) a sectional detail on line 6-6 of l1 ig. 2; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the turn-buckle forgngs which the present embodiment of my invention is -designed to inls'h; 'and Figs. 8, 9, and 10 illustrate the successive operations performed A'upon thel forging by my machine.

Referring to the parts by reference numerals, l is a bed plate from the respective front and rear sidesof which rise the standards 2 and 3, and a shaft is journaled with- 1n the upper ends of these standards and carr1es, immediately inside the standard 2, a w'orm wheel 6 thatjis driven from a worm 7 secured to the central portion of a shaft 8 which extends transversely of themachine and is journaled, on eachside of the worm, 1n bearings 9 Vthat extend inwardly from the standard 2, and near its ends in bearings 10 that are carried by standards ll'which rise from the bed plate adjacent each end of the transverse shaft. The left hand end of this Patented Nov. 29, 1921. 4

shaft, as viewed in Fig. 2, is equipped with pulleys 12 through which pow'er is intro- Substantially midway between the standards 2 and 3, a frame 15 rises from the bed plate ,and, as shown, has formed integral with it, the lower half of a ring 16, while the upper half of the ring is made separate arid secured to the lower half by bolts 17. lA. turrent 18 is loosely mounted upon the shaft5 within the ring 16, and to the front end of its hub is secured a clutch member 19 for cooperation with a, clutch member 20 that is splined to the shaft. The turret is in the form of a drum, and secured to its periphery and spaced 9()o apart thereaboutare work holders designated generally 25.

The work .holders 25 are in the nature of clamps and each consists of a ,jaw 26 that is secured, b screws 27, to the turret, and a jaw 28 that is movable toward and from the jaw 26, and is guided in its movement by a projection 29 of the jaw 26 which enters a recess in the other jaw. Sprmgs 30 tend to hold the jaws together, and the outer jaw 28 has ribs 31which extend from its opposite ends. for coperation with the inturned lower ends of an inverted U-shaped plate 32 which is applied to the ring 16 at a point A. This is the loading and unloading sta.-

*tion* for the work holders, and the anges Fig. 4) which contain plungers 36, and yin each instance the plunger 36 is impelled inward by a spring 37 confined between a flange ofthe plunger and a follower 38 that is adjustable within an end plate 39 whichA closes the outer end of the boss, the plunger having an extension which -is guided within a bore of the follower. The follower is f' 'adjustable for the obvious purpose of regulating the tension'of the spring 37 to impose a greater or less pressure 4upon the work holders which. are adapted to ride beneath rollers 40, carried by the'inner ends of the plungers. Each plunger is held against turning with respect to the ring 16 by means of a key 41 which occupies reglstering keyways inthe plunger and adjacent portion of the ring. Hardened liners 43 are set withinV the opposed faces of the jaws ofthe work holder.

Rising from the bed plate and situated respectively to the front and rear of the frame 15, are housings 44 and 45 having bosses 46 through which the shaft 5 passes; and arms 47, braced by intermediate webs 48, radiate from the bosses 46 and terminate at their outer ends in sleeves 49, there being but one exception, as will presently be explained.

The `arms '47 are spaced 90 apart and their respective sleeves 49 are located at the stations A, B, C and D.l A plunger 50 is reciprocablein that sleeve 49 of the housing 44 which is located at station A, and is. .adapted to be moved within the sleeve by a camv51, having a groove 52 within which a pin 53 ofthe plunger extends. The cam gis secured to the outer end of a shaft 55 that is ."ournaled Within bosses 56 of the arm. T e inner end of this shaft has secured to it a beveled pinion 57 which is driven from a--beveled' gear 58, secured to the shaft 5 forward of the housing 44. A like gear, bearing the same reference numeral, is fastened to the shaft 5 immediately to the'rear of the housing 45. At station A, a platform 60 is supported, in a horizontal position, from the adjacent arm of 44, and is arranged to receive which will presently'l be described, thechute depositing the turn buckle on the platform in alinement with .both the plunger 50 and the work receiving recess of the work holder.

which is, at the time, at station A. As the plunger operates in a manner hereinafter to be explained, it pushes a turn buckle from,

the platform into the work holder, and through the intervention of this turn buckle, displaces the one just finished and causes it to be discharged into a chute 63, the

'upper end of which may be supported by the adjacent arm 47 of the housing 45. This arm is brokenu away in Fig. 1, and its outer end is not equipped with a sleeve, as are the other arms for its only function is to support t-he chute 63.. The chute `63 extends outwardly and downwardly from one side of the machine and maydischarge into a receiver 65.v

At each of the stations B, C and D,`the sleeves 49 of the opposed housings 44 and 45 are each interrupted intermediate of its ends by a transverse kerf which is occupied by a pulley 66 splined to a spindle 67 which lis reciprocably and rotatably mounted vwithin the sleeve. A yoke or member 68 is swiveled to the forward end of each spindle,

and its ends are connected, through flexible elements 69 that are guided over pulleys 70, to a weight 71 which tends to retract the spindle and retain its rear end in engagement with the periphery of a cam 73 that is carried at the outer end of a radially disposed shaft v74, jo'urnaled within bearings of the arm 47 and having a beveled vpinion 75 secured to its inner end which meshes with the adjacent beveled shaft 5. Thus it will be seen'that, as the shaft 5 rotates, the various cams 73 will be operated to reciprocate the spindles 67 within the sleeves 49, these spindles being moved in `opposition to the cams by the Weights 71.

At station B, the adjacent ends of the op- 'posed spindles 67 are equipped with facing cutters for finishing the ends of the bosses gear 58 of theof the turn bucklesas they are presented in operative relation to the facing cutters by the work holder, the effect of such operation .being illustrated in Fig. 8. The spindles which carry the facing cutters are driven by belts 8l that are guided over the pulleys 66, and over pulleys 82 that are secured to a shaft 83, supported along the left hand side of the machine in bracket 84 that extends Vfrom the housing 45, and in a standard 85,

located near the forward end of the machine.

The forward end of the shaft 83 has secured to a beveled pinion 86 that meshes with a similar pinion 87 on the drive shaft 8.

The shaft 83 is also equipped with pulleys for driving, through the belts 90, the pulleys mediately to the rear of the gear 101, in astandard 103, and at its rear end in a bearing 104 carried by the adjacent housing 44. At about itsmiddle, the shaft 102 has splined ,j to it a double-cone clutch member 105 that is adapted to enga e, when moved toward the right (in Fig. 1 with a clutch member 108 that is carried by a gear 109; and when moved toward the left, with a clutch member 110 that is carried by a gear 111.-;l The gear 109 meshes with a gear 114 of similar size that is secured to a shaft 115, journaled at its forward end in a boss 116 of the standard 2, and at its rear end dn a boss 117 of the housing 45. The gear 111 is adapted to drive, through an idler gear 118, a gear 119 which corresponds in size to the gear 111, the idler .118 being journaled upon a stud that is carried by the standard 103.V It will be seen from this that, when the clutch member 105 is in either of its effective positions, the shaft 115 will be driven at the same speed as the shaft 102, but in reverse directions accordingly as the clutch member 105 is shifted toward the right orleft. Belts 120, which are guided over the ulleys 121 on the shaft 115 and over the pul eys 66 of the tap carryf ing spindles, transmit the power. of sald v shaft 115 to the spindles.

A shaft 125 that extends from front to vrear of the machine and is in the horizontal ret is effected, and the lower end of the lever carries a roller 134 which traverses the face of a cam' 135 that is fastened to lthe shaft 125. The cam is so designed as to cause the Y lever to be rocked at intervals to engage the clutch member 20 with the complementary clutch member 19 of the turret to rotate the turret and thereby carry the work holders from station to station; and the turret is arrested in its rotary motion and' positively positioned with the work holders properly located at the various stations by the cooperation of the nose .of a lever 138 with recesses 139 that are formed in the rear face of the turret adjacent its periphery. The lever 138'is pivoted at 140 to a bracket 141 that extends-rearwardly from the frame 15, and the lever is rocked in a direction to project its nose into the recesses by means of a spring 143 that has one of its ends connected to the lever and its opposite end attached tothe aforesaid frame. The lever is rocked in thev opposite direction by a cam'145, secured to the shaft 125, and engaging a roller 146 that j is journaled upon the lower end of the lever.

' A hopper 150, supported a suitable dis- 'tance above the machine, is adapted to re- 8^? ceiv 'a quantity of turn-buckle forgings; and as the forgings tumble down into the reduced 4lower end 151 of the hopper they Aare picked up by fingers 152 of a drum 153, as the drum is rotated, the fingers being designed to engage between the side bars ofthe turn-buckles. The drum 153 is mounted on a shaft 154, which may bef'su'pported in suitable hangers, and is driven through a belt 155, trained over a pulley 156 of the drum 90 and overa pulley 157 that is carried by the shaft 5, to the rear of a sprocket wheel 130. The forgings are picked up by the lingers 152 and carried'over and depositedY in a suitdistance to push a turn-buckle forging from the platform 60' into the adjacent workholder and, by means of this forging, eject the onepreviously finished by the machine, 105 the latter being conveyed by the chute 63 to the receiver v65. The plunger 50 is then withdrawn from the work-holder sufficiently to escape .interference with any moving parts of the turret, and it remains over the I platform 60 andv beneath the chute 61 to sustain vsucceeding yforgings untilit is subsequently withdrawn for the purpose of pro- 'ecting another forging into the next workolder. After a forging has thus been deposited in a work-holder, the cam 145 rocks. the lever 138 to withdraw the nose of the lever from a recess of the turret, unlocking the turret, and the cam 135 rocks the lever 133 to engage the clutch member 20 with the 120 clutch member 19 and retains the clutch engaged long enough to carry the turret through 90, or until the previous workholder is brought to station B, when the lever 138 rides from the effective portion of 125 the cam 145, allowing the spring 143 to swing the lever 138 in a direction to project its nose into the adjacent recess of the turret. As soon as the work-holder moves from station A, the upper jaw thereof is released by the member 32, allowing the springs 30 to set the jaws and clamp the forging between them. During the facing operation, as well as succeeding operations, this clamping action is enhanced by the spring actur.

ated plungers 36. After the facing opera- ,tion has been completed, the turretis again rotated through 90o to present the forging to the drills 92 at station C, and upon completion of the drillingoperation, the turret is actuated to carry the forging to station `D, where the taps' are projected into and withdrawn from the bores of the bosses,

threading them and thus completing the.

work. The-:finished work is then returned to station A where it is ejected by a succeeding piece.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is l. In apparatus of the character set forth,

the combination of opposed supporting structures, a series of spindles rotatably an reciprocably sustained by each structure, the spindles of each seriesbeing disposed about a circle, means for driving the spindles, a

drives each of the former sha-fts, .and a tool carried by each spindle and opposed to the tool of the other and between and in operative relation to which tools a piece ofwork is adapted to bev supported.

- 2. In apparatus of the characterset forth,

the combination of sets of opposed .tools disposed about a circle, means for dr1vin'g the` tools, mechanismv for moving the tools toward and from each other, a rotatable carrier adapted to support a piece of work and move the same between and in operative re lation to the opposed tools of the various sets, and a common actuator passing through the axis'of the carrier for operating the carrier and the aforesaid mechanism.

3.y In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination of opposed tools, means for driving the tools, mechanism for moving each tool toward and from the other, a carrier for moving a piece of work between and `in operative relation to the tools, a commony actuator for the carrier and the aforesaid' mechanisms and whereon the carrier is sup- P ported, said actuator being continually ac-v tive, means for intermittently coupling said actuator to the carrier, and operative connections between the actuator and the coupling means.

4. In apparatus of the character set forth, thecombination of opposed tools, means for driving the tools, mechanism for moving each tool toward and from the other, a carrier for moving a piece of Work between and in operative relation to the tools, a common actuator for the carrier and the aforesaid mechanlsms, said actuator being continually active, means for intermittently coupling said actuator to the carrier, means -for locking the carrier when the work is in operative relation to the tools, and connections between the actuator and the coupling and locking means whereby said means are operated by the actuator.

5. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combinationof a pluralit of work holders, a carrier for moving sa1d work holder through an orbit, tools arranged at stations sol tained by the work holders, means for operating the tools, a common actuator for the means of the various tools, means for intermittently coupling the carrier to said actuator, means for locking the carrier with the work in operative relation to the tools, and connections between the actuator and the coupling and locking means whereby said means are operated by the actuator.

`7. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination of a pluralit of work holders, a carrier for'moving said olders through an orbit, tools disposed about the orbit for operating upon the work, meansr situated at theholders, mechanism for operating said means and each of the aforesaid tools, a common actuator forl the mechanisms of the loading means and the various tools, means for intermittently coupling the carrier to the actuator, and connections between the actuator and thev coupling means whereby said means is operated thereby...

8. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination of a'shaft, vmeans for continually driving said shaft, a turret loosely mounted upon said shaft, a clutch for coulin the turret to the shaft,lwork holders carried b the turret, tools disposed about the circu ar orbit of the work holders, operative connections between 'the shaft and said tools, and connections between the said shaft and the aforesaid clutch and through which the clutch is-inter'mittently actuated to couple the turret to the shaft.

9. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination of a shaft; means for continually driving the shaft; a turret loosely -a loading station for depositing work within mounted upon the shaft; work holders car.-

ried by the turret; a clutch -for coupling the turret to the shaft; tools disposed at intervals about the orbit of the work holders; means for locking the turret with the work holders disposed in operative relation to ,the tools; and connections between the shaft, the locking means, and the aforesaid clutch, whereby the lockingmeans and clutch are operated from the shaft. 10. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination of a shaft; means for continually driving the shaft a turret loosely mounted upon the shaft; a clutch for coupling the turret to the shaft; a plurality of openingandclosing lwork holders sustained by the turret; means situated at a point about the orbit of the work holders for cooperation with the work holders thereby to open them; means for introducing a piece of work into each holder when under the influence of the aforesaid opening means; tools disposed about the orbit of the work holders; means for retaining the work holders in closed condition when in operative relation to each tool; operative connection between the various tools and the shaft; means for locking the turret with the word holders in operative relation'to the tools; and con-y nections between the shaft, said locking means, and the clutch, whereby the locking means and clutch are actuated from the shaft. 11. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination of a plurality of opening-and-c'losing work holders, a carrier 4for moving said work holders through a given course, means disposed along said i courseA for opening the Work holders when the work holders are presented in operative relation to said means, means for introducing a piece of work into the work holders when open, tools disposed at intervals along the course, means for maintaining the lwork holders in closed condition when in operative relation to the tools, means for actuating the tools, and means for moving the carrier.

12. In apparatus of the character set forth, `the combinationof a shaft, means for continually driving said shaft, a turret mounted loosely upon said shaft, a clutch A:for coupling the turret to the shaft, a plurality of work holders carried by the turret, tools disposed at intervals about the orbit of the work holders,` means for actuating said tools, a device for locking the turret with the Work holders in operative relation to the tools, lmeans for actuating the aforesaid clutch, a second, shaft, driving connections between the first and second shafts, and

cams carried b the second shaft for copera-v tion with the ocking device and the clutch actuating means.v

13. In apparatus of the character vset forth, the combination of -a drive shaft, a

shaft continually driven therefrom, a tur ret loosely mounted on the driven shaft, a clutch for coupling the turret to the driven shaft, a plurality of work holders carried by the turret, tools disposed at intervals about the orbit of the Work holders, drivingconnections between the drive shaft and said tools, the driving connections between the drive shaft and certain of said tools including reversing mechanism, a device for locking the turret with the work holders in operative relation to the tools, means for actuating the clutch, a cam shaft, driving connections between the driven shaft and cam shaft,'and cams carried by the last mentioned shaft for actuating the locking device, the clutch actuating means, and the aforesaid reversing mechanism.

14. In mechanism of the character set forth, the combination of opening-and-closing work holders, a carrier for said work holders, means for opening the work holders when the work holders are presented in operative relation thereto, a work support sustained along the path of movement of the work holders and adjacent the opening means, means for depositing work upon said support, a pusher arranged to move the Work from said support to the holder, and mechanism for reciprocating said pusher.

15. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination of a shaft, a work carrier revoluble thereon, mechanism for directly coupling the work carrier to theshaft, tools disposed at intervals about the course ofthe work carrier, and connections between the shaft and the aforesaid mechanism whereby said mechanism is operated from the shaft. o

16. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combination of a shaft, a work carrier revoluble thereon, mechanism for coupling the work carrier to the shaft, tools disposed at intervals about the course of the Work carrier, means for locking the carrier when in a given relation to the tools, and connections between the shaft, the locking means and the aforesaid mechanism, whereby 'said locking means and mechanism are Voperated from the shaft.

l 17. In apparatus of the character set forth, the combinationof sets of opposed tools, said sets being disposed about a circle, means for driving the tools, a cam for mov- `ing each tool toward the opposed tool of its ltools, said sets being disposed about a-circle ing `the opposed toolsof each set toward with respectto' the center of Whlch the tools each othe, and a centrally situated actuatare fixed against angular movement, means ing member for operating the vaforesaid 10 f .loeated between the sets of toolsI and mov-` means of all the tools.

able about said circle for presenting a piece In testimony whereof; I hereunto affix my of Work'successively to the corresponding signature.

' -tools of the opposed sets, means for a'dVanc- NATHAN .FRETTER 

